Am 02.04.2013 00:38, schrieb Ger:
>
> If I use the first Erode macro, the proc runs nicely with all cores at 100%
> and at normal work temp. When I otoh the Erode1 macro use, the parse times
> are obviously much shorter but the processor get way too hot when tracing
> the image.

"100% CPU load" does not mean that the CPU actually runs at its full 
potential - it only means that the CPU is constantly busy in /some/ way, 
whether it is actually computing stuff or just waiting for the main 
memory to deliver data.

The simpler your scene is, the less memory it takes as a whole, and 
therefore the more of it can be kept in the CPU caches; as a result, the 
CPU spends more time doing actual work than waiting for main memory 
operations to complete.

A well-designed computer should be ok even at full throttle. However, 
not all computers are well-designed with respect to thermal management, 
and POV-Ray has a habit of making the CPU sweat like no other application.

If you are worried that your CPU might overheat, the most obvious 
solution is to reduce the number of work threads.

Note that the maximum thermal limit varies between different CPUs. There 
are also huge differences in what happens when the limit is exceeded: 
Current Intel CPUs are known to handle thermal issues very graciously, 
being designed to automatically throttle their performance (or in the 
worst case simply halt themselves entirely) before reaching fatal core 
temperatures. In contrast, AMD CPUs have a reputation for failing 
catastrophically and suffering permanent damage.

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